Category Archives: Past Stories

I speak for the trees

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Hey Folks!

It seems that spring has finally arrived which meant a couple of welcomed sunny, warm days at Forest School.  This week, we focused on trees – beginning with one of our favourite games, Sappy Sappy, to get the energy flowing.

After our initial check-ins, smudge ceremony and some yoga, the students paired up and took turns blindfolding and leading each other to a random tree in our area.  It was up to the blindfolded student to collect as much information as possible with their other senses about the tree, give it a big hug, then try to find it after being returned to the starting point to remove the blindfold.  For the most part, everyone was able to find their special tree – different barks, needles, sizes and smells were all good indicators.

Afterwards, we sat down and spent some time reading the “Lorax”.  We are beginning to encourage a stewardship of the land for students and what story could be better?  The students had a lot of great reflections about the story, and it even turned into a game of hide and seek, where the “Lorax” would hide behind a tree, and when found, would chase down all the “Oncelers” to stop them from cutting down trees (see Lorax Tag).

Also on Wednesday, the students eagerly jumped in to help our friend Al clean up all the down branches and twigs from the ice storm a few weeks ago. What a great, spontaneous opportunity for service-learning and taking responsibility of the land we use.

Before lunch we visited our sit spots with our journals in hand and a new task: Adopt-a-Tree.  Students chose a tree nearby their spots and were asked to study it, name it and commit to taking care of their tree.  With the help of ID books, students were able to figure out their type of tree and some facts about them.  Some students on Thursday even created “adoption sheets” complete with all the useful information they could think of about their tree.  When we got back to the school house, students presented their trees to the group enthusiastically, by sharing why their tree was so great and why they loved it.  (The Snowy Owls have also been given “homework” to find out interesting facts about their tree to share with the group next week.)

The afternoon saw an opportunity for exploration and free-play.  Free-play happens daily at the school, and it’s always intriguing to observe and see how the children interact, imagine and cooperate.  It was fun to quietly watch on Thursday as games emerged with rules first created, then talked about, tried out and then sometimes changed.  On Wednesday, students chose to take on a huge undertaking to make a snowman from the last remaining pile of snow (thanks to the shade from our trees)!  An incredible amount of teamwork and communication was needed to lift the second ball on top of the first.

Later on, after a bit more talk about trees, we headed out to the fire pit.  By popular demand, we furthered our learning on fire making and took the first steps towards earning fire beads.  Student made “nests” from dry grass, sawdust, lint and birch bark.  The students were able to make fire in their nest using only a coal and blowing slowly.  The next step will be flint and steel (which some students are already mastering) and char cloth.

It seems we fit a lot into the days this week – the sun sure was a great motivator in that!

Congrats to our bead recipients this week as well: 2 storytelling beads were earned and our our very first journaling/reflection bead!

A heads up, too – your child may be snooping around your leftover veggies and fruits for seeds to plant in the upcoming weeks.

See you next week!

Matt and Kim

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.” -The Lorax

Catch me if you can

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Hey Everyone,

First off, a big WELCOME to our new students!

It seems like winter just won’t leave us alone – which we took full advantage of this week.  The fresh layer of snow was perfect for seeking out and learning about animal tracks.

We began the day by checking “baited areas” to see if any creatures had visited and lucky for us, we had a hungry neighbourhood vole. Before learning the ins and out of tracking though, we tracked each other in a game we like to call Track and Seek.  The students dove right in, tried to throw the other group off their trail while searching out shelter to hide in.  Along the way, we were pleasantly surprised to find goose, rabbit and many more tracks.

Afterwards, we took the classroom to learn about the different parts and types of animal tracks.  We even had a helping “paw” from Aden who was happy to show off his claws, toes, heel and dew claws.  After a legend about animals, the students designed their own “monsters” and “monster tracks”.  The ideas and explanations were incredibly creative! Then the students were given field guides and we were off to the 11th Line Trails.  Our goal: to find the tracks of a white-tailed deer and red fox.

And did we ever reach our goal!  The students were able to successfully identify dog, fox, deer, squirrel and rabbit tracks.  Not only that, using the guide they were able to determine the speed at which the animals were traveling, which led to an epic tale (both days independently!) of the “rabbit” getting away from the “fox” (with a happy ending as we found no evidence to the contrary!)

Both groups independently got into “parkour” on the trails.  Jumping from safe spot to safe spot when the trails were flooded.  “I feel so ALIVE!” is the quote of the week from one student.  Seems the weather can never bring us down at Forest School, and a big kudos to all the positive attitudes of the students.

As for beads, congratulations to our recipients this week! We gave away 2 group beads for  excellent games invented and then led by students, one called Soccer Ball Track and Seek and the other called Sick Bug.

We are looking forward to next week, and hopefully some nice sunny days.

Matt and Kim

List of creatures’ tracks that we ID’ed:
Goose
Rabbit
Grey Squirrel
White-Tailed Deer
Aden
Domestic Dogs
Red Fox
Seagulls
Vole
Raccoon

 

The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw

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Hey Everyone,

We dove into birds this week and were fortunate enough to identify over a dozen different species.  With robins, red wing blackbirds, cedar wax wings, so many waterfowl, and (our personal favourite) some killdeer to name a few, we had such an abundance of birds to ID and observe. We even saw a Red Tailed Hawk!

We explored a new forest area in search of pine cones (now aptly named “Pine Cone Valley”), then got sidetracked for awhile at the “Concrete Factory” (a wet, sandy, muddy mix in the “Endless Desert”).  We brought the cones back to the school house and made good old fashioned peanut butter and seed bird feeders to hang in our sit spots in hopes of attracting some new friends.

From the stories of the students, we hear you had a happy Easter and enjoyed an extra long weekend!  We had our own version of an egg hunt at the forest school this week.  Students learned about maps and the use of latitude and longitude to find coordinates.   We then got out the GPS and did an egg geocache, receiving new coordinates at each egg found, leading us to the next.  The grand finale? A pot filled with hot chocolate cooked over the fire.

A BIG congratulations to our first recipients of beads this week.  We gave out 3 craft beads for a great homemade bag, gravity-tension thorn spinner, and an egg carton museum; a storytelling bead for a wonderful legend told around the fire on the origins of maple syrup; and a 3 group beads for a great reflection activity led by a red tailed hawk, and two group activities lead by Snowy Owls.

See you next week!

Kim and Matt

 

The fire within (or “you had me at pancakes”)

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Hey Folks, happy Spring!  And what a difference between Wednesday’s weather and Thursday freezing rain!

We learned all about fire this week, and are on our way to earning our fire bead.  First off, a trip to the local fire station where students got to explore the station, engines, and learn about protective equipment and fire safety.  Since we’ll be having lots of fires at Forest School, the students came prepared and eager with many questions to ask our local heroes.  (Don’t be surprised if you child comes home and checks all the fire alarms!)

After lunch, we were back outside learning the exact steps in fire building.  With journals in hand, students learned all about the things needed (heat, oxygen and fuel) to make a fire.  The students eagerly collected their tinder, kindling and logs, and in no time we had a nice teepee fire blazing.  Not even the freezing rain could stop our fire Thursday.

As a special treat, we cooked pancakes over the fire.  The students were more than thrilled to add the maple sugar and syrup from our sugar shack visit three weeks ago.  On Thursday, these came to be know as delicious “scram”cakes because we forgot the spatula.

This week also saw the implementation of two new systems: Our beads ceremony and sticker reward chart.  Students now earn stickers for various categories (leadership, respect, listening, etc) and when they fill their chart, they receive an incentive.

Beads (see core routines) will also be earned by students for developing both hard and soft skills.  Now we don’t normally send homework home with the students, but there are a couple opportunities for students to work on earning their beads at home – if they want.  Some the skills (fire, knots, etc) can always be practiced at home, but there are 2 beads that can be earned at home: the craft and storytelling beads.

The craft bead is ANYTHING creative the student wants to make and bring in and share with the class.  It could be a bird feeder, dream catcher, painting, ANYTHING!  Depending on what it is, we may even be able to all make one.

The storytelling bead is just that – telling a story/myth/legend/song/poem/anything around the fire to the group.

We know you are busy, and there is no time limit on this.  If your child finds the time, that’s great, but it’s not mandatory.

See you next week, let’s hope for some sun.

Happy Easter!

Matt and Kim

 

Here Fishy, Fishy

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Hey Folks!

March Break didn’t stop us from going to school.  This week, we welcomed brand new students to our school and now offer a Wednesday program in addition to Thursday! As an emergent-learning and student-centered program, both days unfolded in similar yet unique ways.

The Red Tailed Hawks and Snowy Owls were quite adventurous this week.  After our regular check-ins and smudging ceremony, we spent some time learning about fish through interactive games, like a new favourite Fishy, Fishy. Some explorers were also able to spend some quality time in our sit spots and journal about things they saw and changes they noticed since the last time they were there.

Soon after, we were off to the Georgian Triangle Angler’s Association fish hatchery.  Here we learned about the life cycles of fish by observing first-hand the GTAA’s efforts at enhancing populations of trout in the Georgian Triangle.   The students were able to see, feed and hold (in nets) both brown and rainbow trout.  The fish ranged in age from a couple months to almost two years and ready for release.  Afterwards, we explored the creek and pond nearby to locate “escapees”.

Equally important as the hatchery itself was the connection the students could make to our own property.  The GTAA will be releasing some fish in the student-named “Sugar Shack River” leading into “Willow Lake” at bygone days later on this year.  This was exciting news for our students, with dreams of “catching huge fish!” in the lake.

WEDNESDAY

Our afternoons varied between the two days.  Wednesday saw the students head over to “Fossil Mountain” and explore new frontiers of the property (which led to the discovery of the “Endless Desert” and “Sugar Shack River”).  We had a lesson in erosion and river formation in the sand dunes, as well as damming.  It got quite muddy!

Then it was off to build huts and a fire.  Despite the rain (or maybe because of it), the students quickly set up natural shelters and a tarp to remain dry.  We got a fire going, with everyone taking shot at making sparks with flint and steel.

THURSDAY

Thursday afternoon saw trust- and communication-building through a blindfolded  hike.  Then it was off to build a huge natural shelter to fit the whole team-so big in fact we weren’t able to finish it.  The students quickly self-divided into roles (stick collectors, shelter builders, cleaners, grass-getters, etc) and in no time we had worked together to make a masterpiece.

Afterwards we celebrated with a fire and marshmallows.  The students all had a chance to try using flint and steel and catch a spark on charcloth. They did very well, and this is a skill we will continue to work on.

All in all, a great week.  We hope you are enjoying your March Break as much as we are!

Until next time,

Kim and Matt

If you’d like more information about the GTAA please click here to visit their website

 

A sweet, sweet day

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Hey Folks,

Looks like Spring snuck up on us as we went from waist deep snowshoeing to jumping through mud and puddles in just days!

After our smudge ceremony and a check-in, the groups took full advantage of the warm weather and were off to the far corner of our map to visit the Sugar Shack.  It took us awhile to get there – burrows to discover; hornets nests to look at; hills to climb; tracks to follow; hundreds of fossils (and subsequently a map region now known as “Fossil Mountain”).  You know, the usual.

When we finally arrived, we were greeted by Al and Jim who took us on a journey through the process of making syrup.  We were just in time – some caramelized syrup was coming hot off the stove.  The students dove in and were given sticks to eat to their hearts content (which they did!).  To top it all off, we then made some tasty maple toffee in the snow.

After indulging, the students were eager to lend a hand and went to collect all the sap the (50ish) trees had provided.  Al was also more than happy to teach and allow the students to drill and tap holes, then put a bucket on their own trees.

We said goodbye to our Maple Mentors and went back to the school house for lunch.  After just one morning, we had so many new things to add to our maps!

During the afternoon, we took some time in the classroom to check out the cross section of a tree and determine where all that sap was coming.  Ask your child to share their cross-section with you!

The rest of the afternoon saw us introduce one of our core routines: Sit Spot.  Essentially, each child has chosen a spot on the property of their very own.  They are to become stewards of their area, and we will be using these spots often for a variety of purposes.  Today was all about finding a place that spoke to the students and taking some time there. We followed this by adding their spot to the map and sharing stories about what they found with their peers.

See you next week!

Matt and Kim

 

 

 

Building Community, One (snowshoe) step at a time

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Hey Folks!

Our Snowy Owls and Red Tailed Hawks weren’t dissuaded by the cold temperatures this morning. They (quite literally) jumped right into the snowy day. Upon arrival, we strapped on our snowshoes and off we went.

After a quick hike, we paused for a smudging ceremony. We burned sage in an abalone shell and bathed ourselves in the smoke. This ceremony is used to “get rid of the bad and take in the good,” as one student summarized. Along with a cleansing, this was also a moment to acknowledge and honour the traditional territory of the Peton people – an interest we will continue to explore over the course of the program

Creating our group contracts

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Given the frigid morning temps,  we decided to spend a little time warming up and getting to know each other better. The students came up with their nature names (with “Bernese Mountain Dog” being a popular choice thanks to our furriest FS member, Aden), we created group contracts, and began learning more about the history of the snowshoe. For lunch we were off to the Collingwood Public Library, where students read books and made up puppet shows. An awesome moment was watching some of our older Snowy Owls reading nature books to the younger Red Tails.

Our Snowy Owls sharing a story with the Red Tailed Hawks

 

As the day went on, the sun came out and the temperature rose. The groups split up and we spent our afternoon exploring our new surroundings by snowshoe. How lucky we were to have pristine, untouched snow to work our way though.

The Snowy Owls settled into the woods, where they built a stellar fire using all natural materials. Tinder (“Let’s use Birch Bark!”), Kindling (“Grab Sticks!”), Fuel (“We need big stuff too!”) – it’s amazing to see how much the children were able to share their prior knowledge with their peers. They cleared away the snow, created their Teepee (and later log) and got the fire going fairly quickly. The students learned about the three “D’s” when collecting wood: Dead, Down and Dry.

Enjoying our first fire together

The Red Tailed Hawks were off on their own snowshoe adventure. Along the way, they were able to follow animal tracks (including a rabbit, skunk, and or course, Aden). They were able to track the Snowy Owls and find out where they were by following their prints. They soon joined the Snowy Owls and we shared stories and legends around the fire.

The end of the day brought with it some lessons in camouflage and time for reflecting on the day with a little bit of journaling – drawing, writing, or both. The students were asked to express their favourite part of the day.

We very much enjoyed the day today and look forward to doing it all over again next week!

Kim and Matt

P.S. At forest school we are always looking for new ideas. If you or your child, has an idea of something to explore, please let us know!

 

So… who are your teachers, anyway?

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Kim:
Growing up in Collingwood, it’s no wonder that I have always had a heart for playing outside and exploring new spaces. I graduated from Brock University’s Health and Physical Education Program, where I learned the significance of play-based learning and got a real taste of how to create and adapt programs to keep everyone engaged. Keen to continue exploring and learning, I further completed a Bachelor of Education in Outdoor Ecological and Experiential Education at Lakehead University. Through this program, I further understood the significant influence that meaningful outdoor, experiential education can have on the whole-child, and how essential it is on the development of today’s youth.

I have spent summers planting trees throughout Canada’s Great North, have worked with Free Spirit as a guide and camp counselor for over six years, and am currently working as a Residential Youth Counselor at Pine River Institute, an outdoor therapeutic learning centre for youth. In my free time, I enjoy camping, climbing, and being on the water.

I am very eager to join in with your child on their learning journey and support them as they discover themselves in the natural world around them! It’s a great time to be a Red-Tailed Hawk!

Matt:
I have a passion for the outdoors and its use in empowering students through meaningful experiences. I graduated from Lakehead University with an Honours Bachelor of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism, as well as a Bachelor of Geography. In 2013, I further completed a Bachelor of Education in Outdoor Ecological and Experiential Education.

I have dedicated myself to working with children and young adults in various outdoor pursuits, programs and facilitation roles. For 4 years, I worked for Katimavik, a non-profit Canadian national youth volunteer experiential education program as a live-in facilitator and am a graduate of the NOLS Outdoor Educator program. I have worked for Free Spirit Tours for 3 years as a guide and camp counselor and am also currently working as a Residential Youth Counselor at Pine River Institute.
I am so excited to jump into nature with the Snowy Owls! We live in a beautiful area with a rich cultural and natural history that I am eager to explore with your children.

Aden:
Let’s introduce Aden, our massive school mascot! Aden is a 2.5 year old Bernese Mountain Dog, weighing in at over 110 lbs! He LOVES being outside and can often be found exploring the local forests and connecting happily with children. He’s a bubbly, loyal and excitable boy and is looking forward to exploring nature with all of us. Feel free to give him a hug!